Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Gorgan
2 Gorgan University of Agricultural sciences
Abstract
The main question in this study is how herders perceive plants in saline and alkaline rangelands and the relation between water, soil and plants. Data collection was done using field walks and semi-structured interviews with herders in Incheh Borun rangeland, Aq Qala county at Golestan province, Iran. Herders mentioned 38 plant species with local names. Traditional knowledge of herders showed that land in Turkmen Sahra is classified into two categories of sour and sweet and ocassionally healthy-unhealthy or good-bad are used instead to describe land. Herders also described seven categories for soil including Shishei (glassy), Shor (sour), Martoob (wet), Naor (small basins), Tappeh (hill), Ghermez (red) and Siah (black) where specific plants grow in each category. The result of this study showed that Turkmen herders carry rich knowledge regarding the description of plants and habitats. The innovation of this study was using Turkmen herders’ traditional knowledge in identification of plants, soil categories and their characteristics which is done for the first time in the region. It is recommended that policymaking in natural resources management of Iran apply buttom-up planning and decision-making in order to use traditional ecological knowledge of local communities.
Keywords
- Abbas, Baqer, Qarawi, A.A.Al. and Hawas, A.Al. (2002), “The Ethnoveterinary Knowledge and Practice of Traditional Healers in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia.” Journal of Arid Environments, 50, 367-379.
- Díaz S, Settele J, Brondizio ES, Ngo HT, Guèze M, Agard J, Arneth A, Balvanera P, Brauman KA, Butchart SHM, et al. (2019). Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem. Bonn, Germany, IPBES secretariat.
- Evelyn, Mathias. (1995). “Framework for Enhancing the Use of Indigenous Knowledge.” IK Monitor, 3, (2).
- Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro, Dana Lepofsky, Ken Lertzman, Chelsey G. Armstrong, Eduardo S. Brondizio, Michael C. Gavin, Phil O’B. Lyver, George P. Nicholas, et al. (2021). “Scientists' Warning to Humanity on Threats to Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems.” Journal of Ethnobiology, 41(2), 144-169.
- Feyssa, Debela Hunde, Jesse. T. Njoka, Zemede Asfaw and M. M. Nyangito. (2011). “Seasonal Availability and Consumption of Wild Edible Plants in Semiarid Ethiopia: Implications to Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation.” Journal of Horticulture and Forestry, 3(5), 138-149.
- Gantuya, Batdelger, Marianna Biró, Ábel Molnár, Ákos Avar, Abolfazl Sharifian Bahraman, Dániel Babai and Zsolt Molnár. (2021). “How Mongolian herders perceive ecological change in a “stable” landscape.” Ecology and Society, 26(2).
- Grenier, L. (1998). Working with Indigenous Knowledge. A Guide for Researchers International Development and Research Centre, Ottowa, Canada.
- Junior, Nelson Pedroso and M Sato. (2005). “Ethnoecology and Conservation in Protected Natural Areas: Incorporating Local Knowledge in Superagui National Park Management, Braz.” Journal of Biology, 65(1), 17-127.
- Khan, Sher Wali and Surayya Khatoon. (2008). “Ethnobotanical Studies on Some Useful Herbs of Haramosh and Bugrote Valleys in Gilgit, Northern Areas of Pakistan.” Pakistan Journal of Botany, 40(1), 43-58.
- Meilleur, B. (2010). The structure and role of folk ecological knowledge in Les Allues, Savoie (France). In Landscape ethnoecology. Concepts of Biotic and Physical Space. Edited by Johnson LM, Hunn ES. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.
- Molnár, Zsolt and Daniel Babai. (2021). “Inviting ecologists to delve deeper into traditional ecological knowledge.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 36(8), 679-690.
- Molnár, Zsolt. (2012). “Classification of pasture habitats by Hungarian herders in a steppe landscape (Hungary).” Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 8(1),
1-18. - Mugade, Nisha and Jagdish Bhagwat Sapkale. (2014). “A review of mangrove conservation studies in Maharashtra, India.” International Journal of Engineering and Technical Research (IJETR), 2(11), 338-341.
- Nazarea, V.D. (2003). Ethnoechology Situated Knowledge/ Located Lives, Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
- Panghal, Manju, Vedpriya Arya, Sanjay Yadav, Sunil Kumar and Jaya Parkash Yadav. (2010). “Indigenous Knowledge of Medicinal Plants Used by Saperas Community of Khetawas, Jhajja District, Haryana, India.” Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 6(4), 1-11.
- Rajasekaran, Bhakthavatsalam. (1993). “A framework for incorporating indigenohs knowledge Systems into agricultural research and direction.” Human organization, 57(3), 258-272.
- Sharifian, Abolfazl, Alvaro Fernandez-Llamazares, Hossein T. Wario, Zsolt Molnar and Mar Cabeza. (2022). “Dynamics of pastoral traditional ecological knowledge: a global state-of-the-art review.” Ecology and Society, 27(1):14.
- Sharifian, Abolfazl, Batdelger Gantuya, Hussein T. Wario, Marcin A. Kotowski, Hossein Barani, Pablo Manzano, Saverio Kratli, Daniel Babai, Marianna Biro, Laszlo Safian, Jigjidsüren Erdenetsogt, Qorban Mohammad Qabel and Zsolt Molnar. (2023). “Global principles in local traditional knowledge: A review of forage plant-livestock-herder interactions.” Journal of Environmental Management, 328, p.116966.
)